Brief Bio: Dr. Helen Lavretsky is a Professor In-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA and a geriatric integrative psychiatrist with research program in geriatric depression and integrative mental health (NIMH, PCORI, and NCCIH) using mind-body interventions. She is a recipient of the Career Development award from NIMH and the NCCIH, and other prestigious research awards. Her current research studies include investigations of psychopharmacological treatment of treatment-resistant geriatric depression, mild cognitive impairment and the use of Tai Chi and yoga for treatment and prevention of late-life mood and cognitive disorders. She is the Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and the Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the recipient of the Distinguished Investigator awards for research in geriatric psychiatry from the American College of Psychiatrists and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. She is the Director of the Late-life mood, stress and wellness research program, the Integrative Psychiatry clinic, and the Post-COVID Psychiatry clinic. She is the President-Elect of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry.

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER? I never realized that there are rules of engagement and the science of mentoring that can help being a better mentor, that there are rules of engagement and negotiation, and that mentor burnout is real. *

What makes ACNP membership special? I have not missed a meeting since I joined. I enjoy annual meetings atmosphere of collegiality and openness to mentorship, exchange of ideas, and meeting new and old colleagues for over 20 years. I enjoyed participating in the mentoring programs, both in person and virtual. *

What are 5 interesting facts about you? 

• I was born in Ukraine and grew up in Russia in a family of neuroscientists.
• I am a certified Kundalini yoga teacher and an avid practitioner of yoga, pilates, gyrotonics, and meditation, and a great consumer of alternative medicine. As I say "show me "alternative" and I will try it at least once. 
• I do silk painting and play piano in my spare time.
• I own a cabin in Northern Idaho and despite being a vegetarian- got into fishing.
• I like being a grand-mother to two sweet grand-daughters, Elena and Evelyn, hiking, and swimming, and creating with them. *

*Correction from previous version

Brief Bio: I am a Brazilian MD/Ph.D., with graduation from the Universidade Federal de Goias, Brazil, and Ph.D. in Medical Sciences at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil. I did my medical residency in psychiatry at the Instituto de Psiquiatria de Santa Catarina, Brazil. I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Rochester, NY, in a T32 NIMH Training in Suicide Prevention Research.

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER?

I would cite the reinforcement of how fundamental mentoring is to build your research career, the importance of the active role of the mentee in the mentor-mentee relationship, and the mentoring network map, which broadens the possibility of mentoring according to the dynamic needs of the mentee.

What are 5 interesting facts about you?



1. I have a cat that moved with us from Brazil. Her name is Neue (in honor of Neue Galerie NY).
2. The most inspirational musician for me is Bob Dylan.
3. I love to practice sports. I used to play soccer and footvolley and recently started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
4. My favorite program is to walk in the streets of New York City.
5. Before moving to the U.S, I lived for years in Florianopolis, a gorgeous city in Brazil whose nickname is "the island of magic".

Brief Bio: Dr. Consuelo Walss-Bass is Professor with tenure and the John S. Dunn Foundation Distinguished Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Walss-Bass is the Director of the Psychiatric Genetics Program and the UTHealth Brain Collection for Research in Psychiatric Disorders and she is regular member of ACNP since 2018. Her research focuses on the understanding of mental health disorders at the molecular level. She utilizes genomic and proteomic approaches in human and animal models to correlate genetic/epigenetic modifications with cellular function. Dr. Walss-Bass established the UTHealth Brain Collection resource to help study brain disorders and also focuses on development of human-derived induced-pluripotent stem cells to obtain virtual brain biopsies of individuals with psychiatric disorders. As Director of the Psychiatric Genetics Program, Dr. Walss-Bass oversees all genetic studies carried out in the Department of Psychiatry and assists clinical investigators in genotype-phenotype correlations to better understand the genetic underpinnings of psychiatric disorders. Her work has led to more than 85 peer-reviewed publications, in most of which she is either the first or last author and she has received almost continuous NIH and prestigious private foundation awards. She is a sought-after speaker both nationally and internationally and has served on multiple NIH grant review committees both as a regular and invited member.

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER? The most important thing I learned from the Near Peer Mentoring Training was to be open about past personal experiences with mentees, particularly as they relate to career advancement, as this may allow the mentee to feel more comfortable in sharing their own experiences and hurdles they may face.

What makes ACNP membership special? ACNP is an amazing organization that offers a space for people at all professional levels to feel at home, to interact with their peers, and it provides great opportunities for collaboration and career advancement. 

What are 5 interesting facts about you?

1. I am from Mexico.
2. I have degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry.
3. I love dancing, any kind of music!
4. I do yoga every day.
5. I try to solve a crossword puzzle every day.

Brief Bio: Dr. Cuarenta graduated with a Bachelor of Science in both Psychology and Human Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014. Dr. Cuarenta continued her PhD training at University of Wisconsin-Madison in Biological Psychology with Dr Anthony Auger. Her dissertation research focused on how early life psychological and physiological stressors impacted juvenile social behavior and mobile genetic element activity in the rodent brain. After graduating in 2020, Dr. Cuarenta became a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Debra Bangasser at Temple University. Her current research investigates neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to stress-induced vulnerability and resilience to addiction. In 2020, she was awarded a NIDA Diversity Supplement to support her postdoctoral research, and she was recently awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology to support her research in mobile elements.

What is your favorite thing learned so far from the Near Peer Mentoring Training Sessions with CIMER? It is hard to narrow it down to one favorite thing. I would have to say that the workshops I have participated in as well as the meetings with my mentor are my favorite things. The workshops are really helpful in allowing me to think critically about my future plans and learn more about the mentoring process while my one-on-one meetings are special because I am able to utilize the skills from the workshop and put them into direct practice. 

What are 5 interesting facts about you?



1. I have a 2-year-old dog named Bailey.
2. I play ultimate frisbee semi-professionally.
3. My sense of smell is my superpower.
4. I am a camp kid. 
5. I am the first PhD in the family.